248 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



the names given to these substances would be superfluous; in the lan- 

 guage of chemistry they are all sugars, though they are not all sweet. 

 Differing in minor particulars, they all have certain properties in com- 

 mon, and the most characteristic of these common properties is that 

 they each and all may be fermented and will yield ethyl alcohol as one 

 of the products of the fermentation. 



The methods for conducting the fermentation on an industrial 

 scale have been carefully worked out, but it is not the intention to enter 

 here into the details of that phase of the subject. 4 



Ethyl alcohol boils at a lower temperature than water, consequently 

 when the dilute alcohol obtained by fermentation is subject to distilla- 

 tion the distillate contains more alcohol and less water than the orig- 

 inal liquid. When the alcohol has been concentrated by distillation to 

 about 40 per cent, or 50 per cent, of the total volume of liquid we have 

 one of the so-called spirituous liquors — brandy, whiskey, gin or rum. 

 These liquors owe their individual aromas and flavors to relatively 

 insignificant traces of essential oils and organic esters derived from 

 the particular material which was fermented. Just after they are 

 made they also contain small quantities of distinctly deleterious sub- 

 stances (alcohols other than ethyl alcohol), which taken together are 

 often referred to as fusel oil. These other alcohols should be removed 

 before the liquor is put on the market. The old-fashioned way of 

 removing them was to allow the crude liquor to remain for some years 

 in oaken casks; the wood of the casks gradually absorbed some of the 

 injurious ingredients, while others were oxidized by the action of the 

 air and some coloring matter was extracted from the wood. Such a 

 time-consuming process is not in harmony with modern methods, so 

 we have numerous chemical processes for removing the undesirable con- 

 stituents. We can impart what color we like with more or less burnt 

 sugar and thus artificially ' age ' our spirituous liquors and wines in 

 short order. The number of patents allowed upon processes of this 

 character is surprisingly large. A spirituous liquor is thus cheap stuff 

 at the best, not worth intrinsically a tenth, often not a hundredth, part 

 of its retail price. 



The manufacture of whiskey, rum and the like, then, is really a 

 step in the process of the manufacture of ethyl alcohol for commercial 

 use. The alcohol, still too dilute, is subjected to another distillation; 

 it is ' rectified.' This rectification is carried out with the assistance 

 of an ingenious but simple contrivance with the somewhat pompous 

 name of dephlegmator. A dephlegmator consists essentially of a 

 series of chambers, one above the other, each succeeding chamber a 



4 For particulars see any one of the numerous excellent texts on the subject. 

 Among the best are, ' Handbuch der Spiritusfabrikation,' by M. Maercker, eighth 

 edition, and ' Practical Treatise on the Distillation and Rectification of Alcohol,' 

 by W. T. Brannt. 



